Key-ring.



No. 863,297 I PATENTB-D AUG. 13, 1907.

J. LYNN. KEY RING.

' APPLIOATION FILED APB. 14,1905.

K I uvvsmok 05am Lyn/1v,

r BY 7 Arron/1m JAMES LYNN, OF TYRE, PENNSYLVANIA.

KEY-RING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1907.

Application filed April 14,1905. Serial No- 255,568.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES LYNN, a citizen of the United States, residingat Tyre, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in a Key-Ring, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates generally to key rings, the object being toprovide a simple and inexpensive construction of key ring by means ofwhich large and small keys can be separated from each other, that is,all the larger keys held upon one side of the ring and the smaller keysupon the opposite side of the ring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ring upon which the keyscan be quickly and easily placed and removed by a person understandingthe construction of the device and a still further object is to providea key ring from which it would be almost impossible for the keys tobecome accidentally displaced.

With these objects in view my invention consists essentially in theemployment of a ring divided at one side and having a finger projectingfrom the opposite side through the opening in the ring, said fingercarrying one or more disks adjacent its free end, which disks areadapted to close the openings in the ring upon the opposite sides of thefinger, said disk or disks being notched to receive the ring of the key,said notch being adapted to be brought into register with the opening inthe ring at one side of the finger for the purpose of receiving the saidbow of the key ring.

The invention consists also in certain details of constructionhereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Figure 1 is aperspective View of the key ring constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said ring closed. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the key ring with the disks arranged ready to re ceivethe bow of the key to be arranged upon the ring. Fig. 4 is a face viewof the ring with one of the disks removed. Fig. 43 is a view of saiddisk removed. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig.4.

In carrying out my invention, I make the ring A from any suitablematerial and any size desired, said ring being divided at one side andthe ends turned inwardly and curved toward the center of the ringforming guides for the keys as most clearly shown at A in Fig. 4. Afinger B, integral with the ring A, extends from the opposite side ofthe ring and projects through the opening of the ring and terminates inan eye B, by means of which the ring is connected to a key chainAdjacent the outer end of the finger it is somewhat enlarged as shown atB the opposite sides of said enlarged portion being curved inwardly asshown at B and outwardly as shown at B thereby producing two compoundcurve slots or openings upon opposite sides of the free end of thefinger. Two circular disks 0 are pivotally connected to the enlargedportion of the finger B, by means of a rivet D, which passes through thecentral opening G, produced in the disk 0 and each disk has a peripheralnotch O ,.which notch is constructed with reentrant portions C as mostclearly shown in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to place the key upon the ring the disks are turnedso as to bring their notches into register with each other 'and with theentrance of the curved opening'at one side of the finger, as shown inFig. 2. The bow of the key is then introduced into the said notches andforced inwardly, said action serving to turn the disks so that they arebrought into the position shown in Fig. 3. By this time the bow of thekey will be in such a position that it can pass over the end A, of thering and after the bow of the key has been passed over this end A, it isan easy matter to shift the said bow around upon the main portion of thering, the disks turning freely upon the pivot, permitting said actionand in so doing, they effectively close the opening at one side of thefinger and thereby prevent the key from becoming accidentally disengagedfrom the ring.

By having the finger B connected to the ring at a central point, andprojecting the same through the opening at the opposite side, the ring Ais divided into two sections, each of which is adapted to receive andhold a number of keys and it will be found convenient to keep upon oneside all the keys of a particular kind and upon the other side, all thekeys of a different kind. Thus the keys can be divided into large keysupon one side and small keys upon the other, or office keys can bearrangedupon one side and house keys upon the other, thereby practicallycombining two separate key rings in one and employing a single lockingmeans for closing both rings.

Thus it will be seen that I provide an exceedingly simple and efficientform of key ring, capable of operating in the manner herein beforedescribed and for the purposes set forth.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A key ring comprising a ring open at one side having downwardlyprojecting curved ends forming guides, 21 finger projecting from theopposite side between the said ends, and a notched disk pivotallyconnected to said finger adjacent its free end on a transverse pivot,said disk being adapted to force the key between the ends and the fingerand to normally close the openings between the same, for the purposedescribed.

2. A key ring comprising a ring open at one side and the ends curvedinwardly, a finger projecting from the opposite side of the ring throughthe opening and enlarged adjacent its free end, and the disks pivotallyarranged upon transverse pivot, said disks having peripheral notches 10the opposite sides of the enlarged portion of the finger, adapted toregister with each other and with the openings said disks being notchedas described. upon opposite sides of the finger for forcing the-keythere 3. A key ring comprising a ring open at one side having throughand closing the same. r its free end curved inwardly forming guides afinger inte- J LIES LYN. gral with the ring and pro ecting from theopposite side L through the openings between the ends having an enlargedWitnesses: end curved to correspond to the curve of the ends of theEWING McMIcHiinL,

rings, disks pivoted upon opposite sides of the finger by a M, W.McPHEnsoN.

